A picture is worth a thousand words

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, a saying that means a lot more than people realize. The concept that one photograph that one person took, can change not just one but millions of people is quite amazing. For me, when I take pictures or see pictures I don’t take the time to really appreciate of analyze what is occurring in the photo. Think about this, you can be taking a silly old selfie not thinking much of it, and accidentally capture something in the background that could change your life or just perspective on life. There are so many infamous photographs from our history that have given us, the American people, an inside on how broken and hurt our country and even world is. From pictures of starving children to homeless people. But, pictures have also given us so much joy and pride of our society. Pictures have an immense impact and importance on our views on society and even the American dream or the American nightmare. This idea is highly stressed in Guimond and Alinder’s, writings.

  Guimond and Alinder are both two very intelligent people who view the topic of American Studies and everything it entails so differently. James Guimond the author of, "The sign of The Times", discusses how in the 1930s the American people knew that we were going through some extreme times. They knew this because of photographs. Pictures of sharecroppers or of woman's gnarled hands, were becoming 'popular'. He describes a point, where he was walking down the street in the cold icy, winter and he saw the hopeless, dark, and emptiness of the people. People with no food and no place to live. He realized that this is what the exhibit was trying to show us. His whole purpose of writing this was to express his feeling towards photography and the connection that it must “The American Dream” or what people believe the “American Dream” is.

The picture that I have displayed above does a perfect job of tying in all the concepts that I have discussed. As I was walking around campus, I was a little unsure of what I wanted to photograph. I was confused, on how one picture could symbolize something so much bigger than itself. When I saw this man sitting on the bench knitting I was compelled to take a photo of him. I wanted to get an up close picture of him, but I also wanted to make sure that I got the school buildings and the green grass and trees in the background. I did this because I wanted to show the simplicity of this man but also the complexity of school. The man in the picture clearly is not a student, he told me that he sits out there all the time, but that was the first time that I noticed him. I guess I was so consumed in everything in my life to take a moment and observe and enjoy my surroundings. The fact that we are in the same exact place but in two different places compelled me. I am a conceited college student, and he couldn’t be the complete opposite. The picture to me represents “The American dream” in so many ways. To some it is the school building, that represents “making it”, but to others it is the pure happiness of the man from a simple task of knitting. The “American Dream” to me is more than just money and power, it is happiness and joy that comes from the little things in life.